Self-Control

The peace of our Lord to you all on this day!

Sunday, ‎December ‎25, ‎2022

Good morning, Lord

Verse of the Day: Luke 2:16-20

And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

Memory verse: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

Readings: ZEPHANIAH 1-3 REVELATION 16

Self-control

Galatians 5:22-23

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

I looked into what would be said about self-control by the folks who control what is published these days. There is probably as much written about self-control as there is about economics.

But when you look at Galatians 5:22,23, it is the last of the nine fruits of the Spirit. That has always said to me that it is in that position for a reason-like a knot at the end of a string of beads. That may seem a bit of over-simplification but what I mean is that self-control, spiritually holds all the other fruit in tact.

 All the others are controlled by how conscious we are of the Holy Spirit in our lives-how well we allow the Holy Spirit to manage our lives. If we make the conscious decision and maintain the decision to surrender to The Spirit daily, we are free to experience these blessings constantly. If we do not make the right decision, we are not connected to God's power.

Everywhere I looked for the printed spelling, self-control is always hyphenated-there is always a dash between self and control. Even the way it is spelled by the world implies a disconnect. The dash in between...is the constant conscious decision between self and control. Will we choose for self to be controlled by God or the enemy. It cannot be both ways.

Matthew 6:24 ►“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other."

God gets rid of the dash. He brings the self and control together under His power when we remain surrendered to His will.

That would mean that a lot of us have a lot of work to do-not work on self-not  a lot of work on control-but a lot of time spent with God on listening to Him and how He would lead us minute by minute.

Psalm 37:4 ►Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

 Take delight in the Lord. How? Choose to delight in Him. Ask Him for the desire to delight in Him. He will answer.

...because He loves us...

Father in Heaven.

My desire for You is so weak. Give me the desire to surrender and be controlled by You.

 Generous and mighty God,

In the name of Christ Jesus,

Amen